Truckers ‘slow roll’ through Texas to protest regulations

A group of truck drivers protesting against various trucking industry regulations demonstrated on a north Texas highway today.

On Wednesday, February 6, around 10:30 a.m., a group of truck drivers left the Travel Centers of America in Terrell, Texas, convoying on Highway 80 to the LBJ Freeway to Dallas, then returning to the TA via I-35E and I-20, according to a report from Fox 4 News.

The group of trucks were traveling at about 45 miles an hour, mostly keeping to the right lanes.

As many as 100-200 truckers will be taking part in a “slow roll” from Terrell through Downtown Dallas this morning as a means of protesting over-regulation in trucking industry. If you’re driving between Terrell and Dallas, you’ll see it. Hear from them on @WBAP247NEWS @570KLIF. pic.twitter.com/X94flGPt4f

— Scott Sidway (@ScottyWK) February 6, 2019

A number of the trucks were decked out with flags and signs designed to raise awareness about the cause that the drivers were protesting.

Local news outlet WBAP reported that “hundreds” of truckers turned out for the protest activity. Other news outlets reported that 10 – 15 trucks actually participated in the slow roll.

The slow roll was organized by the Stand as One Texas Facebook page, which is the Texas arm of the nationwide “Black Smoke Matters” trucker movement.

The Black Smoke Matters group is seeking numerous trucking industry changes including Hours of Service reform, Electronic Logging Device regulation relief, and more truck driver involvement in the creation of new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations.

This slow roll is one of several planned events leading up to a nationwide trucker shutdown planned for April 12.

You can check out helicopter-filmed footage of the slow roll protest below.

You can also get a trucker’s eye view of the slow roll in the Facebook video below.